Something sticks with me for days, weeks, months after each silent book club meeting – online or in person. They range from positive to cautionary book reviews, to readers connecting with shared enthusiasms and discoveries, to witticisms like the title of this blog post, especially brilliant coming from my well-read companions. (Another great one: “that book is not forgotten, just un-remembered” …)

Sometimes it’s a particularly sparkling light, and sometimes it’s a general and wonderful glow, as I’ve remarked on before. As the days and nights have grown darker again, books and book-lovers will be essential to warming and lighting the way!

Let us hasten to that which fuels us! Every title on our group’s generous lists means that at least one (but usually more) readers have given that title thoughtful consideration. That doesn’t mean that every work on our lists is expressly recommended, of course. Inclusion on this list always means that our readers have devoted time and attention to a title – and that, dear readers, means a lot.

• Death at the Sign of the Rook by Kate Atkinson
• Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini and Taffy Brodesser-Akner (audiobook)
• The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs
• Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
• Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers
• Dark Wives by Ann Cleeves
• The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins
• Parade by Rachel Cusk
• Fifth Business by Robertson Davies
• The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits by Emma Donoghue, narrated by Caroline Lennon + multiple narrators (audiobook)
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Spies by Michael Frayn
• The Women by Kristin Hannah, narrated by Julia Whelan and Kristin Hannah (audiobook)
• Piglet by Lottie Hazell, narrated by Rebekah Hinds (audiobook)
• Survivors of the Hive by Jason Heroux
• The Glorious Guinness Girls by Emily Hourican
• Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey
• The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell
• The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
• Satantango by Laszlo Krasznahorkai
• from time to new by Lydia Kwa
• Votive by Annick MacAskill
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
• Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund
• Julia by Sandra Newman
• Inland by Téa Obreht
• Beauty: The Invisible Embrace by John O’Donohue (audiobook)
• At a Loss for Words by Carol Off
• The Capital of Dreams by Heather O’Neill
• We Solve Murders by Richard Osman
• Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
• Baby Cerberus by Natasha Ramoutar
• What She Said by Elizabeth Renzetti
• Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
• The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan
• There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak, narrated by Olivia Vinall & Elif Shafak (audiobook)
• The Way of the Hermit by Ken Smith
• Listen for the Lie by Amy Tintera
• The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
• Who Could Ever Love You by Mary L. Trump
• What I Ate in One Year (and related thoughts) by Stanley Tucci
• Fire Weather by John Vaillant, narrated by Alan Carlson (audiobook)
• The Three-body Problem from Pythagoras to Hawking by Mauri Valtonen, Joanna Anosova, Konstantin Kholshevnikov, Aleksandr Mylläri, Victor Orlov and Kiyotaka Tanikawa
• The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite
• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa
• Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, narrated by Jennifer Kim and Julian Cihi (audiobook)

Here are some extra book-related articles, resources, news and recommendations, items and tidbits that are often companions to books on the list, or are inspired or offered by our members and/or come up during our discussions and chat.

• Why are authors doing this? Have we lost trust in readers? – Here is some fascinating food for thought on how much writer do or do not, and should or should not, explain things to readers. This might be a topic coming soon to a book club pop-up discussion meeting near us …!
• One of our book club members shared these two sites for eclectic euro-centric films, some of which were adaptations of some of his recent reading: easterneuropeanmovies.com and sovietmoviesonline.com.
• Many of our book club members also take part in other book clubs. One of our new members is also part of a traditional, everyone-reads-the-same-book club that is now welcoming its second generation of participants. Here’s the story about the group’s founding generation.
• And oh, in case you missed it … yes, we’re that book club from TV!

Our group’s previous reports and book lists are right here!

You can also check out links to articles, interviews and more here – some with San Francisco-based Silent Book Club founders Guinevere de La Mare and Laura Gluhanich, and some with us here in east end Toronto.

Learn more about the worldwide phenomenon of silent book clubs via Guinevere and Laura’s Silent Book Club web site. In fall 2023, they welcomed their 500th chapter … and with continuing and astonishing momentum, they are now boasting over 1,500 chapters!!! (There were around 60 chapters when we joined as the first Toronto chapter in 2017.) You can find information on meetings happening around the world and close to where you live. Every club is a different size, format (in-person, virtual or combinations) and vibe, so contact a club’s organizers beforehand if you have any questions or preferences. Please feel free to contact me for more information about our club and its offerings.

May your reading keep you cozy and satisfied till next we meet!